Cosmetic treatment articles including masks designed for providing treatment to the skin are known in the art. In some instances, a facial mask is the application of a liquid or gel covering directly onto the face. This allows the mixing and application of a variety of topical treatments to the skin being treated. In other instances, a facial mask may be created by saturating a cloth-like material with a particular topical treatment composition. This homogeneous treatment can then be applied to the face such that the topical treatment(s) on the cloth-like material will contact the face.
Sometimes, facial masks are applied to the user's face, and then covered by a warm towel to heat and activate the mask solutions, and to improve absorption of the solution into the skin. These warm towels may serve to activate the solutions; however, the towels tend to cool quickly so that the mask returns to room temperature long before the facial treatment is over. Alternatively, it is often advantageous to provide a cooling facial mask. Currently, these cooling facial masks are applied with a cool towel, which when applied to the person's skin, quickly warm up to ambient temperature due to the warmth of the user's skin and the surrounding air temperature. The use of ice, while appropriate in a trauma situation, is impractically cold for a relaxing facial treatment.
Various methods have been used in the past to apply heating and/or cooling treatment to a facial mask. U.S. Pat. No. 2,705,952, which is incorporated by reference in this application, provides a mask with a water chamber to house either cold or hot water. Such a method is messy and does not provide the user with adequate means of keeping the desired temperature for the entire duration of treatment. U.S. Pat. No. 8,372,130 provides a facial mask which can be heated by employing a layer containing a swellable hydrophilic polymer and a magnesium-iron active mineral compound which, when mixed together in the presence of water and salt produces an exothermic reaction for about an hour. This kind of heating mask, however, requires a chemical reaction to take place and therefore can only be used once by the user. Users are forced to purchase product after product to treat their skin, which can be costly and contribute to environmental waste.
Reusable facial masks which can be heated for a sustained amount of time are limited to electric or battery powered facial masks and also gel pack facial masks, each of which are associated with disadvantages. Electrical and battery powered masks require a voltage source to heat the mask, such as that which is disclosed in CN2286043, which is incorporated by reference in this application. This method produces a bulky, complicated assembly which is expensive for the user to employ, as well as potentially hazardous for the user to apply in conjunction with water or liquid based compositions due to the power source.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,636,786 which is also incorporated herein by reference, uses a thermally adjustable gel pack which can be first heated or cooled and next inserted into a fabric mask or eye patch to provide the desired heating or cooling. One or more gel packs are used which are secured to a support structure and is held against the face. However, the use of gel packs in conjunction with facial treatment is associated with disadvantages. First, insertion of the gel pack creates a heavy, bulky mask which is difficult to bend and conform to the face and therefore does not facilitate even and uniform heating throughout the face. The consistency and rheology of gels are also not designed to conform to the contours of the face. Second, the plastic (generally polyethylene) outer cover that is typical of gel packs is not permeable to air and therefore does not allow the skin to breathe. Furthermore, typical facial compress designs incorporating gel packs require multiple parts which can be lost by the user, or damaged in some way which leaves the user with an incomplete facial treatment regimen. The gel pack is also generally unaesthetically pleasing to the user.
There is therefore a need for a reusable, washable facial mask which can be easily heated or cooled and maintain a desired temperature for the entire duration of facial treatment, such as up to one hour or more. It is further an object of this invention to create a facial mask which is light weight, has a simple design and is aesthetically pleasing to the user.